During COP29, Action Against Hunger Fights for Climate Resilience

The climate crisis grows more dire by the day. On our current path, it’s estimated that by 2041:

• Climate change will cut all crop yields in half, impacting crops like rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, and more.
• 3.9 billion people will face deathly heat waves,
• 400 million people will be unable to work
• 700 million more people will be exposed to drought risk
• 10 million more people will die every year, including from natural disasters like drought
• Over 525 million people could face climate-induced hunger.

This year, global leaders are gathering at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) to discuss new and innovative ways to tackle climate change and prevent global temperatures from further rising. From Nov. 11 through Nov. 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, representatives from around the world will have the opportunity to take part in a critical movement to end the climate crisis.

“Marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by the crisis — but they have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Alvin Munyasia, Action Against Hunger’s Advocacy and Communication Specialist. “Action Against Hunger is calling on the global community to ‘pay the climate debt’ by implementing justice and making sure every community has equal and fair access to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, through publicly sourcing climate finance in the form of grants that don’t add to countries’ unsustainable debt.”

Munyasia said this is a crucial first step to ensure equitable support for vulnerable communities, especially those on the frontline of conflict and hunger. But it cannot be the only step.

A hotter world means a food-insecure world. By investing in a climate-smart future, moving away from fossil fuels, and recognizing the importance of gender equity, attendees and conscious citizens around the world can prevent hunger for generations to come.

This is especially important in Central America, where the livelihoods of countless families depend on substantial harvests. Agriculture is their primary source of income. Devastating floods, torrential downpours, dry spells, hurricanes, fires, and other natural disasters have become all too common. Extreme weather destroys entire fields, kills livestock, wipes out irrigation systems, and threatens rural towns and cities alike.

Central America’s Dry Corridor, which encapsulates Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, is especially at risk. Prolonged drought has drastically cut the grain reserves of smallholder farmers. Data from Action Against Hunger’s own Food Security Monitoring and Prediction System (PREDISAN) shows that 7 million people across Central America do not have enough food, and up to 25 million people resort to eating less to reserve their food.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) committee, an independent group of food security and nutrition experts from the United Nations, governments, and NGOs (including Action Against Hunger), have also sought to analyze hunger levels in the region. Their data suggests that up to 1.25 million people across El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua even face “crisis” levels of food insecurity, as well as 2 million in Guatemala. These individuals need urgent action to prevent deadly malnutrition. (See this graphic for further explanations of IPC levels of hunger).

Climate-resilient solutions are key to safeguarding future food security. Action Against Hunger is supporting communities across the region and launching innovative solutions to save lives. Here are stories from some of the inspiring men and women we support.

Environmental Initiatives in Honduras

In Trojes, Honduras, Action Against Hungers supports a women-led cooperative that was funded in 1990. All members work in sustainable, environmentally friendly agriculture initiatives. One of their main products is honey, and they work on its full production cycle — from sewing the beekeepers’ overalls to making beeswax to bottling honey and marketing it.

Sara Cerrato is the Cooperative’s Vice-President. In the last few years, she witnessed firsthand how climate change has impacted her community.

“I think that climate change does affect us to a great extent, especially in beekeeping,” she said, adding that the erratic weather patterns prevent the bees from pollinating.

One of her projects aims to reforest the communities to benefit the beehives. “We have planted fruit trees, we have cedar and mahogany on our personal farm, and we also have the cardamom area, which also helps a lot for the bees on the farms,” she said. “All of this is part of the reforestation… the cooperative plants to give to the people so that they can reforest and thus mitigate climate change.”

Santos Argentina Rodriguez is a cooperative member who specializes in making wax. She’s originally from the rural community of Los Milagros.

“The reality is that since I was very young, from the age of 11, I had to work by myself to support myself,” she said. “I didn’t even study because my father didn’t want to support us. I barely got past first grade, but thanks to God I got ahead.”

She said she helped her two daughters get through school as well, and now has a 13-year-old boy about to start ninth grade. “Thanks to God, the support of the cooperative, and the support of friends, I am where I am.”

Conservation Projects in Guatemala

Action Against Hunger is also working with communities in Guatemala’s Eastern Dry Corridor, where 50-year-old Alicia participates in the Arbol de Lluvia (Rain Tree) project. Developed by Action Against Hunger and the University of Jaen, this innovative system is remarkably simple in its design. The Rain Tree accumulates water from rainfall and gives it to soil when the ground grows dry. It hydrates the plant when the roots are desperate for water. In the first year of the project, the Rain Tree project facilitated a 16% increase in cassava production in five communities’ harvests.

Today, Alicia and her husband live next to one of the Rain Tree plots. Her daughter and grandchildren live nearby. The project has allowed them to produce a much better harvest. Action Against Hunger has also assisted Alicia by providing cash transfers; constructing a cooker, grinder, benches, and chicken coop for her house; and whitewashing her walls to insulate the house and prevent bugs and scorpions from hiding in the cracks.

“In these communities, the availability of water is very scarce, especially in community gardens,” said Gloria Coy, Action Against Hunger’s Project Manager of the Rain Tree Project. “This is an alternative to facilitate access to water for the crops we have in community gardens. Looking for production alternatives helps us to be resilient and combat climate change’s effects.”

Alberto Giovanni Martinez Salazar lives slightly farther south in Talquezal, Guatemala. He participates in Action Against Hunger’s reforestation initiatives with sheer dedication and determination. After excessive logging to plant other crops eroded the soil, Alberto and Action Against Hunger’s staff members are restoring the environment and teaching the community about conservation.

“The reforestation was an initiative of Action Against Hunger saw the need for reforestation because of the landslide. We wanted to stop it because it is a large area, more than three blocks had collapsed,” he said. “We saw the reforestation project as an opportunity.”

Alberto expressed gratitude for how the project not only protects the soil but safeguards nature for years to come. “It is important because forests are being lost and we are becoming aware of climate change,” he said. “It is affecting us too much, so I hope these initiatives continue to be taken and that we can, in this way, have a better planet — a greener planet.”

About Action Against Hunger’s Climate-Smart Initiatives in Central America

Action Against Hunger has been working in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua since 1996.

In Central America, Action Against Hunger supports local farmers and helps communities build resilience to climate change. We support families with coffee cultivation, growing and protecting crops like maize, beans, and even loofah, safeguarding against pests, climate-smart home and garden improvement, reforestation, conservation, beekeeping, honey-bottling, nursery maintenance, income-generating activities, and so much more.

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 21 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 59 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

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Photos by Gonzalo Hohr

Story by Ana Mora Seguara, International Communication Specialist and Kenneal Patterson, Senior Communications Associate